I recently decided to install Apple BootCamp on my iMac so that I can play Windows only games from home. BootCamp is a utilty included in the Mac OS that allows users to install Windows as a secondary OS on a Macintosh computer.

Running Windows on a Mac is not new to me. I have been using VMware Fusion for over a year. With VMware Fusion Windows is not installed directly on the Macintosh but rather in a Virtual Machine. Simply put this means that the entire Windows environment is just another application for the Mac OS. For basic business purposes, VMWare Fusion works great. With Fusion, Windows can be accessed without restarting the Mac and files can be seamlessly shared between the Mac OS and Windows running under Fusion. However, Fusion cannot run applications that have intense graphics (design programs, games, etc) as well as BootCamp.

While Fusion allows the Mac OS to treat Windows as another application, Apple BootCamp partitions part of the Macintosh Hard Drive for a native Windows installation. With BootCamp, you partition the drive, install Windows and then during the boot process hold down the ALT key and select either Windows or Macintosh. The advantage of BootCamp is that Windows is running directly on the Mac hardware instead of a virtual machine therefore increasing performance. Windows looks great on a Mac, in fact Windows looks better on my Mac than my PC at work! Keep in mind that with BootCamp, changing environments from Windows to Mac or vice versa requires a restart.

So, which option is the winner in the VMware Fusion vs BootCamp bakeoff? It depends on your needs of course. For casual access to Windows from within a Mac without a reboot, VMware Fusion is a great option. For those users who would use Windows on their Mac for graphics, gaming or spend a fair amount of time in a Windows environment, BootCamp is the clear choice. Keep in mind, both options require a license and media to install Windows. (BootCamp is free, VMware Fusion costs ~$75)

A word of advice for BootCamp users. Be sure to leave plenty of disk space for your Windows installation. I was overly aggressive and had to increase the space for my Windows installation after the install was complete. Luckily, this is not as difficult as it sounds.

1) Install a copy of WinClone
2) Create an image of your Windows partition to an external drive.
3) Use BootCamp Assistant to delete your Windows Partition. (reboot for good measure)
4) Use BootCamp Assistant to create a larger Windows Partition.
5) Use WinClone to restore your backup to the newly created BootCamp parition.
6) From within WinClone, use the tool menu and choose “Expand NTFS Partition”

There you have it, your BootCamp version of Windows now has more space!

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